Anecdotal evidence, however, suggests an increase in global awareness and altruism. This can be seen in: • •
the growth in volunteer tourism and responsible travel our response to one-off events like the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami
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our increased awareness of issues and activities through instant reporting, YouTube and social networking sites
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the corporatisation of giving.
Supporting the case that there is an increase in altruism are the following: • •
the number of existing altruistic organisations has increased the total number of dollars donated to and spent by these organisations has increased
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the number of hours people have spent in volunteer work has increased
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corporate organisations have increased the profiles of their altruistic activities
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developed nations are increasingly aware of the benefits to be found in doing meaningful work, through things like the positive psychology movement.
However, some of the above could be questioned due to the following: •
increases in the amount of tax-deductible donations could be overblown due to: a) an expansion of the type of gift that may be tax deductible to include property b) Prescribed Private Funds – these are a new legal structure and as such will show an increase in numbers c) two taxation incentives that were added in the 2002/03 year that streamlined employee payroll giving
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we have an increased ability to track and measure quantifiable criteria around altruism and so the increase could be an increase in the data that we are capturing rather than an actual increase in altruism
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it could mean that as we become a richer society we have more interest, ability and opportunity to assist others. A person whose own wellbeing or that of his or her